* Specialists can be hired the minute the Queen arrives at an outpost. Newly hired specialists can leave the minute the Queen hires them. So the moment the Queen arrives, it should be shipped off again (with a new Specialist if you choose to hire one at that time).

* Finally, there are several speed boosts this game provides. Do you travel quickly to your own outposts? And do you also quickly to an enemy outpost if you really have to?

stefan wrote:* Specialists can be hired the minute the Queen arrives at an outpost. Newly hired specialists can leave the minute the Queen hires them. So the moment the Queen arrives, it should be shipped off again (with a new Specialist if you choose to hire one at that time).

Hmmm... I was mainly using the smuggler to walk around. Let me try again

After reading this thread there seems to be a few game mechanics that people might not be clear on that are hindering their efforts.

Regarding the smuggler: The smuggler moves at 3x speed when heading to an outpost that you control. What people may not realise is that if you capture an outpost that you are sending a smuggler towards then the smuggler will speed up mid trip. And if your smuggler is heading to an outpost that you own at 3x and you lose that outpost then the sub will slow down to 1x mid trip. So if you know you are going to capture an outpost you can launch a smuggler towards it and know that the smuggler will speed up as soon as you capture the outposts.

You can only hire a new specialist when a Queen is at an outpost. You can schedule the hire to happen as soon as the Queen lands though and schedule that newly hire specialist to leave at the same time.

Also, I just found a way to solve this puzzle involving a General. This isn't the most logical solution but might give some people another way to try and solve it. It uses the same principles.